The brilliant, amazing, talented and wacky crew from Lift Off 4, In Portland, OR August, 2011. Photo by Abe Cajudo.
Have you ever been so proud of something that your heart feels like bursting?
That is how I feel about the community of people Charlie Gilkey and I have worked with in four Lift Off Retreats. Lift Off started as a casual idea between me and Charlie after we met at South by Southwest Interactive three years ago. Read the full story here.
After working with about 50 people so far in four Lift Off Retreats, I am:
- In love with the format
- Amazed by the results
- Totally in synch and on fire with my business partner Charlie
- Astounded by the support in the alumni community which results in massive business support and improvement every day
For these reasons, we are deciding to stop offering Lift Off after 2012.
What?
Why, when we love working together, do profound work, get great results and enjoy every minute of the experience would we stop?
Because we have realized three things:
- Bigger does not always mean better. A small, committed, amazing group of 80 people (which we will have by the end of 2012) is a manageable number to nurture, connect with and grow and develop as leaders. We could do train the trainer sessions, add instructors, expand the group size and do video simulcasts, but we don’t want to do that. The time that Charlie and I spend live, in person and intensively with 15 people is very precious to us.We like the design just the way it is.
- We want to make room to grow leaders. We recognize that there are some serious world-changing leaders in our Lift Off community. We want to spend our energy as coaches and mentors growing this group, so that the impact of their work can spread far and wide.
- We want to model growth. Both Charlie and I are committed to developing and stretching ourselves and our businesses. In order to make room for us to grow in new directions, we need to say no to certain things that we love.
Are you one of them?
We will host two more Lift Off Retreats, one from February 16-19, 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona, and the other in August, 2012 in Portland, Oregon. Details can be found at:
Poke around the site. Be sure to visit the Alumni section, where you can get to know some of the people we have worked with in past retreats. They are the heart and soul of the Lift Off experience.
If you have been thinking about attending, or have questions, send an email to pam (at) pamelaslim (dot) com.
We have 13 spots left for February, and would love to see you there!
In 2013, we have big plans for the 80 alumni. 🙂
Sounds great! At some point I really need to get over to the US and attend things like this. There’s very few comparable events in the UK.
Thank you so much for posting this big news about lift off in 2012! I really enjoyed reading this article and I like your blog very much. Keep on doing great things and great things will come.
I haven’t yet clicked over to read more about your Lift Off Retreats, but I must say that I want to attend simply from the energy captured in the photo of the current participants. I definitely want some of what they so joyously embody!